Lauren L. - Quilt Finished in 2002

Born: May 6, 1998

Illness: Neuroblastoma Stage III

Quilt stitched by a wonderful group of Stitchers from New Life Christian Fellowship, Saginaw Michigan, for Love Quilts!!

A Special Thank You From Lauren's Family!

I wanted to let you know that we received the quilt. It's beautiful!!  Lauren hasn't put it down yet!  She's been running around the house with it wrapped around her and played picnic in the middle of the living room all in a matter of 20 minutes!. She just loves it!

Please let everyone know how much she loves this quilt. She looked at each and every Teddy Bear. She loved them all dressed up as a bee, teacher, cheerleader, etc. They are all just adorable!

We are very touched that so many people took the time to make this beautiful quilt for my daughter. Thank you so much!

Love,

Sandy & Lauren too!

Lauren's Story

written by mom Sandra

Our daughter Lauren was born May 6th, 1998. She made her "Grand" entrance via C-Section after 24 hours of labor! She was a healthy, beautiful and colicky baby girl!

In November 2000, Lauren got a cold but the cough that came with it never went away. My doctor called it "Croup". A couple of days went by and she started wheezing. I called the doctor again, he said it was probably Bronchitis. She was then diagnosed with Croup to Bronchitis, Viral Infection, Allergies then Asthma. This all went on within four months! We went to her pediatrician 18 times for the same symptoms. We went to Allergists and ENT's but all thought she had Asthma.

Finally, we made an appointment with a Pulmonologist named Dr. Marcus who ordered chest x-rays. He found a mass in our daughter's chest which was leaning on her windpipe causing all the coughing and wheezing. In my eyes, he saved my daughter's life. We were in the hospital the next day to have this mass removed. After many tests, we were told there was a possibility that this mass was cancer. We don't really know when we were told our daughter had cancer as this whole week was a blur. She had a biopsy that confirmed the cancer to be Neuroblastoma Stage III and a Broviac was placed in her chest for her chemotherapy treatments.

We were in the hospital for almost two weeks when Lauren was first diagnosed. I think we were sent home on a Tuesday but were back in two days due to a fever. During this whole time our then 14 month old daughter Alexandra was with family. We didn't see her for such a long time. To this day, I feel terrible. When we finally came home she wouldn't come near me. All I kept saying to myself was "Lauren needs me and if it were Alex, I'd do the same for her." Not a day went by that I didn't miss my baby.

Lauren did great. And Alex started to talk to me again! She finished four cycles of chemotherapy. Lauren was then evaluated for surgery to remove this tumor. The chemotherapy has matured some of the tumor but the size is not expected to change much. So, the doctors opted for the surgery instead of doing another four cycles of chemo. The surgery is a difficult one. As there are many risks that come with it. Her vocal chords could be damaged which would cause her voice to become hoarse, her nerve to the left arm is also there and if that were damaged she could lose the sensation to her arm. Last but not least, there's Horner's Syndrome which is better known as "Lazy Eye" if there is damage to that nerve. Then there are the risks from the surgery alone. We are confident that are daughter will do well.

Lauren had her surgery June 22, 2001 by Dr. LaQuaglia at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She went in Friday morning at 10am and didn't get out until 7:30 pm. This was one of the longest days of our lives! It's very scary to just sit and wait while your child is being operated on. Especially, when there's nothing you can do to help. I just sat there and prayed that my daughter would get through this. At around 6:30 pm, Dr. LaQuaglia called us on the phone in the waiting room to tell us "It's Out!!!!" He removed the whole tumor which was the size of a grapefruit. We were finally able to see her in an hour or so in the recovery room. We were all so happy. All 15 of us! There were grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends all rooting for our little girl. My husband actually blew Dr. LaQuaglia a kiss! Lauren was in PICU at Cornell for 2 days. She was then transferred to Sloan Kettering on Monday to POU which is a step down from PICU. The next day we were transferred to a regular room. The only effect from the surgery is that she does have the Horner's Syndrome (Lazy Eye) which is a minimal price to pay for the removal of this tumor. She recovered so well that we were home on Wednesday. The next week, Lauren had a CT Scan to make sure everything was removed. And it was!!! So, every 3 months she had an MRI and blood work at Sloan to confirm NED status (No Evidence of Disease) . Which then went to 6 months, then a year and finally to none! Yeah!

Lauren is a very strong little girl and we admire her. I don't think I could ever do what she has already endured in her 5 years of life. Our daughter Lauren is the love of our life. From the time she was born to now, she is this special little girl with a big heart. She loves everyone and everyone loves Lauren!

Right now, Lauren is doing great! She has been Cancer-free for 6 years in June, 2007!! She is finished with her MRI's. We only need to go to Sloan Kettering once a year every May for a check-up.

She's finally able to have that "normal" life. She has been on the honor roll twice this year! She loves to read her chapter books and is great in spelling and reading. She is a very active girl. She continues to go to Brownies and next year she will be a girl scout. She loves Cheerleading and is on the competition team as a flyer. Her team won all 4 of their competitions this season and looks forward to next year. We're taking advantage of the break until the season begins again. When she grows up, she still wants to be a Doctor just like Dr. LaQuaglia!! There are no signs of her ever being sick. Just the memories that are thankfully disappearing!